Though the recent dissidence of nine Congress MlAs in Uttarakhand is an internal matter of the Congress, the party would have done better by considering the issues that were being raised by the turncoat MlAs. Now that the MlAs have stepped out of the party, they should maintain their stance and stay out of the Congress, opined Republican Party of India (A) president and Rajya Sabha member Ramdas Athawale after his arrival as part of Bharat Bheem Yatra being undertaken by the RPI.
Addressing the media at the Press club, Athawale said that to mark the 125 birth anniversary year the party launched its Bharat Bheem Yatra from the southern tip of India—Kanyakumari on January 26.
He said, “At a time when we are seeing incidents of Dalit oppression and attempts to divide the people on religious and other grounds, we launched this Yatra with the aim of breaking the caste system and uniting society. Having covered about 18,000 kilometres through various States in the drive, I have observed some of the desired changes since the Central Government with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister began its term in office but more of the positive change is still required. Though the RPI has maintained its differences with BJP on various issues, we hope that Modi will not do anything that will betray the spirit of the constitution of India. The Union Government appears to be moving the right direction so far. Passing through various places including Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, our Bharat Bheem Yatra will conclude on May 1 at Ambedkar’s birthplace Mhow in Madhya Pradesh ,” he said.
Referring to the dissidence of Congress MlAs in Uttarakhand, he opined that the party should have paid heed to the issues that were being raised by these MlAs earlier. “Though it is an internal matter of the Congress, I feel that autocracy of the Congress cannot be tolerated. I would suggest to the turncoat MlAs that they maintain their stance strongly and stay out of the party. Even the Congress has in the past taken support of MlAs from the opposition to form its Government.”
The RPI (A) head also spoke on issues including his emphasis on encouraging inter-caste marriages, monetary incentives to abet the same and the idea of providing 25 per cent reservation to members of castes not getting reservation presently excluding the ‘creamy layer’.